In the deep of the night appeared a shimmer of brilliant colors. Only half within the actual realm Maelstrom looked out on a scene he had been preparing himself for months for. He was perched at the edge of a thickly wooded area, with a beach directly in front of him and a sheer cliff wall on his left. Time may not have changed the surroundings much over the last few years but it had certainly changed him.

Years ago he had been abandoned by his bonded at this place. Hurt and angry beyond comprehension he had lashed out and began down a dark path. He had entered this place originally so trusting and full of life, only to leave it bitter and spiteful. His only saving grace had been in his new bonded and bond mates. Among which was a beautiful mare named Starlight. She and time had helped balm and heal his wounds. The talked for long hours and as new bond mates had appeared, most of them as abandoned and angry as himself, they had leaned on each other and had helped each other learn how to forgive and move on.

Coming fully in to the realm the pranced over to the water, playing at the edge of it. As bond mates they had agreed that now they were healed each of them would need to face their demons when the time came and fully move on. For some it had come more quickly than it had for him. There were some, on the other hand, that were still unable to so far. Most significantly there was Faith. She had been wounded so deeply, though she was at the acceptance stage, he wasn’t sure she would ever be able to “move on”.

As the light of early dawn filtered down he looked back down the beach at the way he’d come, only to see that sheer cliff was only a spec in the distance. He had officially (and only semi-symbolically) put his past behind him. With a faint smile on his lips and a flick of his tail he pranced away from the beach and gained more speed as he headed in to the open fields, ready to leave his angry past behind and charge full force in to his new, stronger life.